


I Don't Scare Off That Easy

by lemonoclefox



Series: Bits of AU Malec [5]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Domestic, Fluff, M/M, Prompt Fill, Tumblr Prompt, heads up for mentions of food poisoning and its effects, this is a very real rite of passage in any relationship just sayin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-11 02:43:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11705145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonoclefox/pseuds/lemonoclefox
Summary: Magnus has food poisoning





	I Don't Scare Off That Easy

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: The way you said 'I love you'/muffled, from the other side of the door

Magnus feels like death. His hair droops sadly, sticking to his sweaty forehead, soft without its usual product, and messed up from hours of restless almost-sleep. His skin is clammy, hot and cold at the same time, and he can practically feel how pale he is. 

Magnus hates getting up early, as it is. Waking up at 4:30am and then spending the following two hours hugging the toilet isn’t making it much better.

“Magnus?” A soft knock on the door. “You okay?”

Magnus takes a deep breath, closes his eyes. Great, Alec is up.

“I’m fine,” Magnus says. He sounds so wrung-out and pitiful that he doesn’t even bother covering it up. “Just enjoying the bathroom ambiance.”

Alec chuckles on the other side of the door. It’s both closed and locked, as a precaution of sorts. They’ve only been dating a few months, and Magnus is not about to let anyone, least of all Alec, see him like this. There is nothing dignified about food poisoning. Especially not when you’ve already been dealing with its effects for a few hours, and you’re practically shaking from dizzy, miserable exhaustion. Magnus feels gross, to say the least.

“Right,” Alec says, hesitates. “Well, you’ve… been in there a while.”

Magnus rubs his forehead, keeps his eyes closed.

“I am aware,” he says. He really doesn’t want to talk about this. It’s embarrassing as it is, without stating the obvious. At the very least, they already mentioned last night how the food they got from that new place seemed a bit off, so Alec can probably do the math on what’s happening, right now.

Alec pauses.

“Can I get you anything?” he asks after a few moments, and Magnus breathes a laugh, leaning his head back against the cool tiles of the wall.

“No, I’m– I’m good,” he says. It’s a lie, but he’d rather just Alec pretend this wasn’t happening. Not that Magnus would care if their places were reversed; if Alec were the one pathetically sitting on the bathroom floor like this, Magnus would not judge at all. But that’s different. Somehow.

Alec exhales heavily, and Magnus half-expects him to leave. But instead, he hears Alec sit down on the floor in the hall outside, sliding down along the wall. Alec clears his throat.

“So you’re just gonna sit in there, by yourself?” he says. It’s a challenge, almost teasingly asked, but with an undercurrent of obvious concern. Magnus opens his eyes, only to narrow them at the closed door.

“It’s not that bad,” he lies. His voice is too thin to carry the words with any conviction.

“Sure,” Alec says. “Just saying, some company and sympathy might help. Or, I don’t know, a glass of water.”

Magnus doesn’t reply, just watches the door. He does feel gross. It’s inevitable, considering the circumstances. And all Alec has seen is the well-groomed, not-deathly-pale version of him, even in the mornings, when Magnus has just woken up. He hasn’t seen  _this_ , none ever really does, and Magnus goes through a lot of trouble to keep it that way.

“Magnus,” Alec says, when no reply comes. His voice softens slightly. “Come on. I love you, you know. I don’t scare off that easy.”

Magnus swallows. Suddenly, he feels even more embarrassed about making a big deal out of this, than having it happen in the first place. And of course, Alec knows exactly what he’s worried about, and knows exactly what to say. Magnus loves him for that.

He takes a deep breath, and unlocks the door.

**Author's Note:**

> Visit me on [tumblr](http://lemonoclefox.tumblr.com) and [the twitters](http://twitter.com/lemonoclefox)!


End file.
